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You may have previously heard me say, or read my observation, that virtually every business with which I come into contact, large or small, speak of (often complain) the difficulty of being able to find and recruit enough people of the right calibre to grow their business.

Last week I was chatting to the CEO and MD of a high growth business trading internationally. They started off sharing the story of how the founder and former MD of the business decided that he needed to hire himself an MD to run day to day operations of the business so he could focus on the bigger picture. The founder, now the CEO, shared how when he was in the nitty gritty day-to-day running of the business that he got gradually more and more stressed, put weight on and over time lost the passion for his business. He seriously thought about selling the business because he was so fed up with it.

He made the decision to find someone better than him to be the MD which gave him the time and space to look after his health, to think and to build some key strategic relationships and make some key strategic moves. He shared with me that he is now in significant better shape (he bore little resemblance to the old passport photograph on his security pass), his health and energy levels were on a different level, he was less stressed and was enjoying the business once more. The growth of his business had accelerated since he appointed a very capable and talented MD and he had time to think and, as he admitted, not work as hard.

The new MD then shared their philosophy about recruiting talent to their business: “Hire the best people you can afford and then when you can afford more, hire the best people you can afford”.

I have seen on numerous occasions, in businesses large and small, the turnaround effect of replacing ‘D Grade’ players with ‘A Grade’ players. Where underperforming members of the team are replaced by high calibre, first class individuals, who raise the bar for all people in the team and create a goal focused buzz that turns around performance.

I have also seen employers, with a keen eye on their cost base, spending the least they could get away with in salary, tools/equipment to do the job and the below par working conditions only to complain about the ‘monkeys’ that work for them.

Hire the best people you can afford and when you can afford more hire the best people you can afford.

The people that work in your business, along with the systems you set up, are more than just ‘assets’ as the corporate glossy brochure often says. They leverage the product or service of your business. Yes, they could make you look good, but the really good ones, provide you with an impressive ROI as they help scale your business, giving you time to play the bigger strategic game.

Not only do you need to hire the best people you can afford, you also need to provide them with the right development to equip them to play at the right level.

I have two stalwart DVD training products: “The Business Accelerator” and “The Strategy Compass” which combined provide about 8 hours of first class content to equip the rising stars of your organisation to grow your business. They normally sell for £97 and £197 + VAT respectively but I am running a summer offer until 1 September. Both for just £97 + VAT.

Click this link to find out more about how these two programmes can help the people in your business deliver an even better return for you.